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Tuesday, 11 November 2008

Well I never knew that

Via sweary blog Devil's Kitchen, a second verse of I Vow To Thee My Country that I've never heard of:

I heard my country calling, away across the sea,

Across the waste of waters she calls and calls to me.Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,And round her feet are lying the dying and the dead.I hear the noise of battle, the thunder of her guns,I haste to thee my mother, a son among thy sons.

We don't sing it now, apparently, because it's too overtly martial and nationalistic. And also, presumably, because it's a bit crap compared with the other two sublime verses.

"Let me abo's go loose" simply means dismiss my field hands. The song caused some controversy at the time, and I remember it was banned from the airwaves in some (Asian? ) country as a result of this verse, which was in dubious taste even allowing for the less politically aware climate of the 60's. One Guest above wonders why the kangaroo needed to be ties down in the first place.

My understanding is (and always has been) that "kangaroo" in this context is allegorical, being symbolic of the dying stockman's male member, which he is afraid might continue to flourish priapically even after death just as it did when he was alive, leading to potential problems with the fitting of the coffin lid. Therefore he beseeches his closest friend to take appropriate precautionary measures.